I have seen computer cases of all shapes and sizes and computer cases are what I love about the enthusiast scene the most. I definitely do more research trying to find the right case than I spend picking out my motherboard. After all, the case I pick will have to withstand my brutal punishing nature; the constant upgrades; and my tendency for getting bored very quickly. I haven't been too happy with some of the cases hitting the market today, and some of them just make me angry. iStarUSA claims they have a case that will satisfy my inner geek. Enter the "Super Cooling" Full Tower Nitro AX.

First impressions are definitely important and there is no question that simplicity is apparent in the design of the box holding my new chassis. Too many times I have seen boxes that looked like the Thermaltake Damier and the nausea starts! Elegant comes to mind when looking at the pictures of my new chassis on the printed face of its temporary home.

Okay, so not everything is peachy keen so far… I pull the case out and there is a wonderful plastic sheet protecting the aluminum on the bezel of this "elegant" chassis. There is nothing wrong with that; in fact, I welcome that. The problem I have is with the damned tape they used to apply it. I COULDN'T GET IT OFF! If I have to spend 15 minutes scraping tape off of a case I am excited about throwing hardware in, it loses some of its luster.

Now that I got that crap off, I can start looking around this thing. Nice aluminum bezel, nice thick heavy metal construction, real hinges, box of screws and stuff, big honking fans that promise to be quiet, no sharp edges, and a removable motherboard tray! The aesthetics of this chassis are just superb; everything I look for in a case is there so far. Nice solid construction and a simple design that provides a calming effect instead of a "WTF?!?" effect. The front door even slides back so you can leave it open without worrying about punting it across the room when you walk by it at 3 in the morning! Yeah, I am up at 3 in the morning!